Campaigner loses appeal against Mowi court order

Anti-salmon farming activist Don Staniford has lost his appeal against a Sheriff Court order barring him from Mowi’s farm sites in Scotland. Staniford has for many years used covertly filmed video and photography of fish farming sites to back up his argument that finfish aquaculture is damaging to the environment and to the fish being…

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The war on lice

Lice entering tank

Technology is opening up a number of potential fronts in the struggle to keep farmed fish lice-free Early warning could help salmon farmers take timely action to reduce sea lice numbers before their stock becomes infested with the parasites. Clearly, assessing the levels of sea lice by counting the lice attached to salmon in a…

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Seafood stars recognised in Boston

Salmon and shrimp products have taken the top two prizes in the 2024 Seafood Excellence Awards, announced at the Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America trade show in Boston, Massachusetts at the weekend. Highland Farms won the “Best New Retail Product” award for its Salmon Salami and Social Kitchens Professional/SK Foods Brands won the…

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Cooke Seafood mourns co-founder

Gifford Cooke on a rowing boat

Gifford Cooke, the Canadian marine mechanic who created one of the world’s largest seafood businesses, has died. He was co-founder of the Cooke Seafood group, which turned a local New Brunswick company into a global operation and transformed a single Canadian fish farm into an aquaculture operation employing thousands of people. The Cooke empire stretches…

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Mowi processing plant upgrade nears completion

Mowi worker in overalls in the Fort Willam plant shows off the new machinery

Salmon producer Mowi and food processing systems business Marel are putting the final touches on Mowi Scotland’s Fort William processing plant upgrade. The project includes the installation of state-of-the-art food processing and packaging systems. When complete the upgrade will enable the facility to process and pack 200 fish per minute and increase plant capacity to…

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But where are the lice?

Loch Linnhe

Modelling for the supposed prevalence of sea lice is not backed up by samples taken in the field, says Dr Martin Jaffa Congratulations to the Fish Farmer magazine team for hosting their first Aqua Agenda webinar, which took place in January. The subject was fish health (see the report starting on page 46 of this…

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Aquaculture Awards attract more entries than ever

The Aquaculture Awards 2024 have attracted a record number of entries, up more than 20% on last year’s event. The shortlist has been published today. The awards, to be presented on May 15 at a gala dinner during the Aquaculture UK trade show and conference in Aviemore, include 13 separate categories covering everything from innovation…

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Scottish Pavilion at Aqua Nor hailed a resounding success

Team Scotland’s presence last year at Aqua Nor, the international aquaculture trade show, has been hailed as a resounding success. In a poll, three-quarters of the Scottish businesses represented there said they expect to see an increase in turnover after attending the biennial exhibition and conference held at Trondheim in Norway, in August last year.…

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Grieg Q4 rocked by spiro, jellyfish and winter sores

Grieg Seafood worker on pen

Grieg Seafood is the latest Norwegian salmon farmer to report biological and jellyfish issues during the final quarter of 2023. The company, which was big in Scotland until three years ago, but now concentrates on Norway and Canada, recorded an operational (EBIT) loss of NOK 67 million (around £5m) against an operational profit of NOK…

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Arctic Fish hits 2023 record despite escape crisis

Iceland’s Arctic Fish produced an operational profit or EBIT of €3.2 million (£2.7m) in 2023, the first full year under Mowi ownership. This was in spite of serious escape issues during the summer which led to a backlash in Iceland against open pen salmon farming. The company said the financial biological performance improved somewhat after…

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